12:1
The writer has just finished going through a long list of people who lived by faith. In doing so they were looking forward to the future promise of Christ, and lived their lives in obedience to God. We are to do the same. In the immediate context, the hankering after Levitical practices would do nothing to help the Hebrews, but would only hinder their progress. We should be wary of carrying too much baggage. We must also be very wary of sin. Sin is always destructive, and it can so easily “entangle” us. Instead we are to run the race with perseverance. This race is the race marked out by God, and it was marked out from the beginning of Genesis, as the writer has just shown. We are not following our own path, but the path that Christ has laid out for us.
12:2
Our focus is to be on Jesus, not on any man made system. We need to beware of this at all levels. The Hebrews needed to keep their eyes off the Levitical system. We are all in denominations or streams of some sort or another. This is inevitable, but we must never make an idol out of the grouping that we are a part of. Likewise, no system, such as G12, alpha or whatever, must become the focus. These things may be helpful, but they must not become the focus. Jesus alone is to be our focus, He is the “pioneer and perfecter” of our faith. And the focus of His life was the cross. Jesus was prepared to endure its shame for the joy set before Him. People may mock us for our trusting in Christ’s work on the cross, but we too must scorn that shame, for we have a tremendous joy set before us. After the cross and resurrection Jesus ascended to sit at the Father’s right hand. We too will be seated with Him in glory.
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